Major coverage of CREW's ethics complaint against Senator McCain for failing to disclose gambling winnings
Yesterday, CREW filed an ethics complaint against Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for failing to disclose his gambling winnings. That move has generated a good deal of media coverage.
The Senate Ethics Committee should look into whether John McCain violated federal laws by failing to list gambling winnings on his Senate financial disclosure forms, according to a watchdog group.
The request by the left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) cites several media reports describing McCain as an avid, high-stakes gambler. The group questions why the Arizona senator has not included any gambling winnings on his disclosure forms.
It's no secret that McCain likes to shoot craps, but his campaign told Politico Thursday afternoon that McCain had no gambling winnings in 2006 or 2007. The CREW complaint cites a 2007 weekend in Las Vegas gambling at MGM among the reported incidents in which McCain walked away a winner.
"He had no gambling winnings in 2006 or 2007," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in an e-mail. "If he had, they would have been disclosed on his tax returns."
CREW also points to a New York Times report about a McCain visit to Foxwoods Casino in 2000 in which he won money but did not report it on his 2001 disclosure forms.
The CREW complaint, however, provides a window into McCain's gambling nature; assuming he abides by all Senate and federal tax laws, McCain's not much of a winner at the craps table.
Under Senate rules, all gambling winnings would be treated the same way as pension plans, book royalties, or other winnings from competitions such as lotteries that are open to the public. They are considered "earned income."
So, under Senate rules, at the end of each year, McCain was required to tally up those gambling trips and determine if he netted at least $200. If he had, he was required to report such winnings on his disclosure forms.
Federal tax law is even more strict: "All gambling winnings must be reported irrespective as to whether any portion thereof is subject to withholding. In addition, you may be required to pay an estimated tax on your gambling winnings."
(For anyone who's ever spent a weekend in Las Vegas, this would appear to be one of the most loosely enforced tax rules ever. However, there are plenty of online guides to explain how McCain, or even once-a-year gamblers, are supposed to report wins and losses while legally gambling.)
Obama
Beside all of the below. How could anyone vote for a person that can not make up his mind to vote yes or no 134 times?
Dear Mr. Obama,
It is August 30, 2008. My name is Mark Gregg. I am a 50 something conservative white male. I have followed your campaign closely, including the speeches you and others made at the Democratic National Convention. I am respectfully providing you with seven simple (probably shallow) reasons why I could never vote for you. I believe my opinion is shared by many people. While there may not be quite enough to prevent you from becoming president of this nation, I do think there is an awakening to the fact that you are not a (the) messiah that the media and liberal Hollywood entertainers are trying to portray you.
1. Often I hear your mantra of change, change, change. Yet, you picked a long term, liberal, Washington insider (Joe Biden) to be your running mate. This is NOT change. It is a move that hypocritically refutes the very thing you supposedly stand for. Your campaign then slammed McCain for picking Sarah Palin, apparently, because she is NOT a
Washington insider. She is a maverick who cleaned-up Alaska 's quagmire
of political scandals. Which way is it, Barack? Is it okay for you to
pick a Washington insider under the mantra of 'change', but not okay for
John McCain to pick a smart, aggressive, reformer?
2. You have the single most liberal voting record in the senate.
This indicates to me and others like me that you may very well be an
angry black man seeking to punish our country for sins of a different
generation. I am not racist. I have some biases just like you and
every other human alive. Unlike the democratic party who claims to be
for the minority (but their record heavily refutes this), I will give
any person who truly needs help, help. I married a 'minority' girl 35
years ago (she is Hispanic) and have seen the evils of prejudice first
hand. However, I have also seen my wife and my children and others in
her family throw off the veil of self imposed prejudicial bondage and
move ahead. They love our country and do not view themselves any
different than I view myself as a citizen of this country. Your lovely
wife so disappointed people like me during this campaign when she stated
it was the first time she had ever been proud of this country. She
apparently never noticed the massive aid we give dozens of other
countries. She apparently never noticed the sacrifice of literally
millions of veterans who helped make this country a free nation and
helped liberate other nations from brutal dictators such as Adolf
Hitler. She apparently does not remember that she attended ivy league
universities with scholarship money that ultimately (at least some of
it) was paid for by our taxes. This troubles me more than you know.
She is an angry black woman who appears to not like her country very
much. I don't want her representing me to the rest of the world.
3. You claim Christianity but apparently do not realize that the
Bible teaches that he who does not work, does not eat. The Bible does
not say or even suggest that he who CANNOT work, should not eat. Yet,
your liberal policies reward people who are capable of working, but
choose to not do so. This bothers me. I know that if you are elected
our taxes will spiral upwards. You should heed the words of Winston
Churchill: 'We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into
prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself
up by the handle.' If I like anything about you, it is your campaign
promise to balance the federal budget. Unfortunately, we have heard
this a huge number of times from a number of different politicians and
we realize that when you energize the very liberal Nancy Pelosi, Robert
Byrd, Ted Kennedy, etc, etc, and the many other democrats like them, a
balanced budget will never, ever happen on your watch.
4. During your question and answer session with Rick Warren of
Saddleback Church your answer concerning the question of where does life
begin, stunned me: 'Above your pay grade?' Does this mean when
something bad happens as President of this nation that you are going to
look at your salary to determine if you can respond? I am sorry, but
this was the most serious gaffe I have seen you make. Frankly, it shows
me that you are pandering in the most obvious manner. You will choose
your words not from your heart, but from an agenda that I believe is
still hidden from the American people.
5. If anything stands out about you it is probably your
appeasement mentality. In this era of rampant, radical Islamic
extremism and with the latest stunt pulled by the re-energized Russian
government, I am not sure appeasement is healthy. I again revert to the
words of Winston Churchill: 'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile,
hoping it will eat him last.'
6. You and your party tacitly believe that a 13 or 14 year old
girl must have the parents approval to have the school nurse provide
them with a Tylenol when they have a headache at school. Yet, this same
girl can become pregnant and the school can skirt her off to a clinic
and abort the child in her body without the parents knowing or being
notified. This scares the hell out of me. You have two little girls.
Would you be upset if this happened to them and you were not informed?
Then why do you stand for this? It makes no sense to me.
7. My seventh and final point (for now) is your supporters. I
have watched the Hollywood entertainers that support you, systematically
embrace Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and others like him. I see the
continuous smut and garbage produced by Hollywood , the very people who
promote you the most vigorously. It is not a positive point to me and
others like me to see these over-paid, bizarre, poor examples of human
existence fawn over you and push you and your liberal agenda as hard as
they do. The way I see it; When the devil is for you, we should
question whether or not we should be against you.
In closing, I just want you to know that you scare me. I cannot
vote for you. It is not because of your skin color. It is because
these items I've listed and many, many others like them. Do not claim
that my dislike for you is race based. It is because I do not feel you
have the best interests of this nation at heart.
Respectfully,
Mark A. Gregg
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You stop at nothing to ruin people you don’t like
Hey,
I have an idea for ms. Sloan. Why don’t you go back to the day McCain was born, I’m sure when he took his first breath, it was something that was unethical, or maybe when he started walking, he just didn’t lean far enough to the left for you, that surely is unethical. Why don’t you try and run him in the ground for being a POW, SERVING HIS COUNTRY WITH HONER AND INTEGRITY, I am sure you can find something un ethical in that. You don’t even have to look far, just like you keep overlooking Obama. It would so nice if you would do what you say this site stands for, look into the ethics in WASHINGTON, and how they have stolen our money, messed up our economy. Do not try to blame it all on the republicans or George Bush. It took Nancy Palosi and a majority in congress to destroy, Bush and our economy. The corruption in Washington/ is the best place to focus your one-sided ethics complaints. Yes if you inspect, one side, you should inspect the other. Be fair in reporting and in investigation